Shalimar – Restaurant Review

This weekend we had dinner as a family at Shalimar in Downtown Ann Arbor. My husband and daughter visited last month while I was out of town and were excited to take me back.

Shalimar is an Indian restaurant consistently ranked as one of the best in Ann Arbor.

Shalimar Menu

The Shalimar menu has information for those with food allergies. Many dishes are gluten-free and/or nut-free as listed on the menu. A few dishes are dairy free.

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Entrees

The three of us each decided to order different entrees so we could try different dishes. There are three levels of spiciness – mild, medium, or hot. Neither my daughter nor I like spicy foods, so we ordered them all mild dishes. All of our dishes came with basmati rice which was served family style.

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My husband ordered the Tandoori Chicken. Tandoori chicken is bone-in chicken marinated in yogurt and spices. It is available in half or full portions. He ordered the half and it was plenty of food for him. His dish included a small salad.

My daughter had the Chicken Malai Tikka. It is boneless chicken breast marinated in cream cheese with herbs and served with grilled vegetables, a small salad, and potato curry.

I ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala – boneless chicken in a sauce of onions, tomatoes, and cream with herbs and spices.

We enjoyed all of the dishes. My favorite was probably the Tandoori Chicken since it was on the bone. I found the Chicken Malai Tikka to dry for my preference, but I prefer dark meat to breast meat. On their previous visit, my daughter had the Chicken Lemon Tadka which has a creamy lemon pepper sauce. They both recommended it and my daughter preferred it to the Chicken Malai Tikka.

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Naan

In addition to our entrees, we ordered 2 types of Naan. The Garlic Naan was perfect with our meals. Kashmiri Naan is stuffed with fruit, raisins, and nuts. It was a nice sweet treat that we enjoyed after our meal.

Kids Menu

Shalimar does not offer a kids menu. My daughter is nearly 13 so the lack of a kids menu is not an issue for us. However, if you have younger children there are options. Appetizers offer smaller portions for kids. You can also share from your entree with your kids. We enjoyed our Naan and it would also be a good option for kids.

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Shalimar Atmosphere

Shalimar offers both booths and tables. We were in a booth which was great for our family. They also have tables that can be rearranged to accommodate big groups. We watched them rearrange tables for a group of 16.

Service

We had excellent, friendly service at Shalimar. I am a water drinker and they kept my water glass full – without me ever needing to ask. Our food was also served promptly.

Visiting Shalimar

Shalimar is on Main Street in Downtown Ann Arbor, just south of Liberty. Their address is 307 S. Main, Ann Arbor.

Shalimar is open daily. They offer a lunch buffet from 11:30a-2:45p on weekdays and noon-3:30p on weekends. Shalimar opens for dinner at 5p daily. They are open until 10p on Sunday-Thursday and 11p on Friday and Saturday.

Shalimar takes reservations either by phone or through Open Table. We made reservations with Open Table and were seated immediately on arrival.

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Shalimar Review

Indian food is not usually my cuisine of choice, but we all enjoyed our meal at Shalimar. With the tasty food and excellent service, I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for an Indian restaurant.

Ann Arbor with Kids is your go-to source for Ann Arbor Family Fun. It got its start in an activity list that I was compiling for the playgroup I ran at our church. When my daughter started preschool, the other moms were thrilled to hear about my list. I decided to take the list public in 2009.